


A Model Friend

by EllysiaBanearrow



Series: A Model [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Blushing, Chasing your love, Chloe got nothing on Lila in this, Different Points of View, F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Kissing, Lila is really mean, Magic, Mean Lila, Miraculous Holders, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Photo Shoots, The one where he figures it out, Transformation, partial reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-07 00:49:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16398269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllysiaBanearrow/pseuds/EllysiaBanearrow
Summary: Something happens at Marinette's house during lunch one day that she just wants to forget. Adrien was involved with it and feels bad too, but for a different reason. Both blame themselves while feeling guilty when Nino and Alya know they have to step in. Nino tells Adrien to invite Marinette to his photo shoot the next day while Alya urges her friend to take the chance. Things seem to be leveling out a bit when Marinette builds up enough courage to confess, and Lila steps in and ruins it all. Heartbroken, Marinette runs off to go home the fastest way she knows how, as Ladybug.And Adrien, being the nice guy he is, runs after her... and sees the whole thing!Now he must struggle through the accidental reveal and decide where his heart actually lies before school starts on Monday.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [This is my fault](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/426452) by fionnaxfinn123. 



> This is a fanfic based on a comic I saw on DeviantArt, and while I would normally recommend going over and checking it out right now, I have to suggest that (for the sake of spoilers) you wait until after finishing Chapter 2 at least before checking out the comic. I start Chapter 1 before the story in the comic, so it does contain spoilers. you have been warned!
> 
> Also, this title may change, so don't be alarmed if it does.

“Adrien,” she mumbled in her sleep as Tikki sighed once again. Her chosen’s alarm was about to go off for the third time any second and if Marinette didn’t get out of bed, she would be late for homeroom. Just as the tiny, god-like Kwami was about to bump the teen again, the phone’s alarm did, finally, sound again. Loud and clear.

Beep beep. 

Beep beep.

Beep beep.

Marinette’s hands fumbled around her bed to find the source of the noise in a weak attempt at turning it off, but to no avail. The annoying beeps continued, forced her to drowsily open one eye to find the phone and with a tap the noise finally ceased. She rolled over in her bed, meeting a nearly matching set of blue eyes with her own, causing her to jolt into an upright position.

“Tikki! What time it is, am I gonna be late?” All signs of sleep suddenly gone as she scrambled down the ladder from her bed, tripping on the last step and falling, face first, onto the floor with a groan.

“Not if you get off the floor and hurry up. You still have time, and I’ll even help you!” Tikki answered cheerily as she flitted around the room. Marinette pulled herself up off the floor, walked to her closet and grabbed her favorite pair of capris and her signature white top. Tikki had grabbed the phone and floated over to Marinette’s desk to set it down next to her backpack.  
With a little hum, Marinette, still standing by her closet, took her pajamas off, got dressed in her school clothes, and took her hair bands from the tiny red and black spotted god. Quickly styling her hair into pigtails, she ran over to her desk to grab her jacket, backpack, the over-the-shoulder bag she hid Tikki in, and her phone and dashed down the stairs to the bakery on the ground floor.

“Morning Mama, Papa!” She greeted them happily. They both turned at her entrance and greeted her in kind as they prepared for their busiest time of the day, the breakfast rush. With it also being a Friday, they expected a larger crowd than usual, but the number of baked goods was more than Marinette was used to seeing. “Why did you guys make so much?”

“Oh, that's because of that Italian girl who was on the Ladyblog. She mentioned our shop and we’ve gotten several preorders for our pastries!” Mama said, clapping her hands together in excitement. 

“Lila Rossi?!” Marinette shrieked. Her parents nodded their head, causing her to sag in defeat. That girl had been a thorn in her side since she showed up. First, from all the lies she told about Ladybug saving her life, then she tried to get Adrien to fall in love with her, stole from him and even put him in danger when she was Akumatized into Volpina. Her illusions had nearly given the young superhero a heart attack when she was dangling her crush from the Eiffel Tower. That was the closest she had ever been to giving up her miraculous to anyone, but she would have done it for Adrien, if not for Chat Noir showing her the truth in the illusion.

“What’s wrong, honey?” Papa asked her, placing a large hand on his daughter’s shoulders. No one knew about her secret identity, and it had to stay that way, so she couldn’t tell her parents about all the trouble Lila had caused.

“It’s nothing, I’m just hoping you aren't too busy by lunchtime so I can swing by and grab some for myself.”

“Of course there will be some left for you, dear. No matter how busy we are, we’ll always save the best of the batch for you,” Mama smiled broadly, before adding, “But you need to hurry up don’t you?”

Marinette checked the time, and sure enough, she had two minutes to make it to class to be on time. “Waah! Okay, see you at lunch! Bye!” She rushed out the door as her parents giggled at their clumsy, forgetful daughter’s back.

She just made it into her seat before the bell. She plopped down next to Alya, breakfast already gone before she had walked into the classroom. The darker skinned girl raised one glasses-covered eyebrow at her in question, causing Marinette to shrug with a giggle. Alya was used to her BFFs antics at being late, forgetful, and clumsy so her making it on time and not falling into the classroom was a rarity. Alya opened her mouth to wish her friend a good morning, but the blue-haired girl’s attention was already elsewhere. Slumped on her desk and practically drooling, Marinette was staring at the back of a particular blonde-haired, green-eyed boy in front of her. Meanwhile, Adrien was oblivious to the attention, or perhaps he was just used to it because of his teen model status.

“Girl, are you ever gonna tell him that you lo-” Alya started saying, loud enough for the boys in front to hear, causing Marinette to instantly sit straight up and cover her friend’s mouth. Nino, next to Adrien, and the aforementioned model turned around to stare, amused, at the scene.

“Ahahaha, what are you talking about Alya? Stop being so silly, you’re silly, you know that?” Nervous laughter brokenly forced out, the two boys in front quickly joined in on the laughter before Ms. Bustier called their attention back to the front of the class. Marinette ducked her head down a little to hide, Alya following suit as her friend whispers, “I will, I promise, but I’m not ready yet. I only just started to get used to talking to him, telling him now is just-I can’t!” Marinette felt her cheeks heat up as her heart began thumping in her chest.

“Girl, Lila hasn’t given up on Adrien. If you don't make a move soon, you’ll lose him!” Alya whispered back as their heads turned slightly, eyes finding their target in the back of the classroom. She was sitting next to Nathaniel, eyes forward as she politely paid attention to the teacher. With a sigh, Marinette turned forward again to face the day ahead of her. Alya was right, she had to admit it. If Marinette didn’t act soon, she might lose her only hope of having that house with Adrien. No house, no three children and no hamster.

The day dragged on, painfully slowly for Marinette, but when lunch finally came Alya seemed to have an idea. 

Loud enough for the boys in front to hear, she said, “Hey Marinette, can I come over for lunch? I’d love to play that new Mecha Strike with you while we eat!” Alya winked at her friend, and Marinette, without hesitation, grabbed on to the idea.

“You kidding? Of course, you can come over but plan on losing. I’ve been practicing!” She felt silly and stuttery, but she got the words out nearly as normal as she would have, well, normally.

Nino’s eyes flicked between his friend and his girlfriend, caught Alya’s wink, and joined in on the subtle hint. “Hey dude, wanna go hang at Marinette’s place? Her parents make the best pastries and I bet you could beat Marinette at the new game.”

“I don’t know Nino, the Gorilla will be here soon to pick me up, but I don’t have a photo shoot, so maybe? If Marinette wouldn’t mind?” Adrien looked up at Marinette from his seat, either ignoring her not seeing her flushing cheeks and lopsided smile.

“N-not at all, I’d love you-I mean I’d love to have you! My parents wouldn’t mind you staying- I mean coming over either!” Marinette felt the sudden need to hide behind her backpack and run home, burying her face in her pillows from embarrassment, but she stayed. She’d made it this far, she might as well stick to it because her friend’s glare wouldn’t let her back out now.

“Great, I’ll talk with Natalie and see if it’s okay,” Adrien said as he and Nino made their way out of the classroom. Alya and Marinette watched as he grabbed his phone and hit the speed dial to Natalie. Marinette groaned loudly after he left as Alya tried to comfort her friend. Both were unaware of Lila having witnessed the whole event unfold with dark intentions. She would not let this little show off have Adrien, if it was the last thing she did.

It was only a few, short minutes later that Adrien, Nino, Alya and Marinette found themselves in Marinette’s living room, taking turns playing the new Mecha Strike game. It was a best of three rounds, and Marinette had already wiped the floor with Alya and Nino, so they were sitting back watching the final battle between their best friends. They were sitting so close together cross-legged on the floor, that their knees were touching and it was very distracting to Marinette. She’d already made several, costly mistakes and couldn't afford anymore if she was going to win. 

“You’re very good at this, Marinette, but I’m gonna beat you!” Adrien bragged, his mech having reached level two before hers.

“Not on your life, Agreste!” Marinette sneered as she got a massive power up, half way to level three now.

“That’s cheating!” Adrien said, glaring at her for a half second before returning to the screen in front of them. Hit for hit, they each earned and lost points. Alya had an idea that would either make Marinette to hate her for life or love her to death, but it was a chance to finally get Adrien to learn of Marinette’s feelings for him. She leaned over to Nino, preparing to get him to whisper something into Adrien’s ear.

“I want you to tell Adrien to lean on Marinette, but do it like he’s modeling.” Alya whispers.

“What? Why would that make her,” he started to say, but the telling look in her eyes made him understand. “You mean he is-!”

“Yes, now do it before she wins!” Alya whispered frantically as Marinette just hit level three. “One more level and it’s over!”

Nino nodded and leaned forward to explain what he wanted Adrien to do, Marinette none the wiser of their secret plot. Adrien nodded slightly to his friend as he began moving his arms in a way to show he was trying to fight better by being more active with his body. After a minute of that, he made the move that would cost the match for one of them. He leaned into Marinette’s shoulder, arm against arm like one would lean against a wall or doorway, his other hand tucking a lock of golden hair behind his ear. Marinette instantly froze, fingers no longer moving for those few seconds causing Adrien to get the upper hand and steal the win. She was focused more on the warmth against her arm, their hands inches from each other, the smell of his shampoo from their bodies being so close to each other. 

Adrien broke the contact when he surged to his feet, cheering loudly as both Nino and Alya joined in. Marinette was still stuck to the floor as if she were glued to it. Alya glanced at her friend, leaning down and whispering, “Maybe those feelings you have are reciprocated after all.” This broke the spell on Marinette as she blinked, quickly turning towards her friend, eyes wide in shock. 

He had leaned into her, lingered for several seconds and didn’t apologize like he would usually do if he did something by accident. He meant to lean into her, meant to touch her! Maybe he did love her too and was just shy like she was. Her eyes went to him, celebrating with Nino before looking at the two girls. He noticed she was still on the floor, so he held his hand out to Marinette, offering to help her up.

“Good game, we’ll have to do that again sometime,” he said as he smiled sweetly, at least it was sweetly to the girl whom it was directed at. Marinette slowly took it and he pulled her to standing, but she tripped over the console cord with her first step and lost all sense of balance. His weight put behind the act of pulling her up added to her loss of balance, causing the two of them to fall back as Marinette flailed around trying to stop herself and failing. By the time Marinette opened her eyes again, her hands were on either side of Adrien’s head, his eyes open and wide with shock. They had landed on the couch behind the coffee table, Adrien having tripped backward as his legs now rested on said table which would have been relaxing had it not been for Marinette’s position. She found she had somehow brought her knees up, either from hitting the table or some semblance of self-defense because she was sitting on Adrien’s lap. Rather, the term she should be using was straddling him.

His cheeks darkened as, for a few seconds, neither moved, stuck in stunned silence. Realization finally dawning on Marinette about how this might look to their friends and Adrien himself, she pushed away from the object of her affections. She fell back off the coffee table that had moved due to her clumsiness, ending up sitting back on the floor almost exactly where she was moments before. Adrien’s cheeks were very red now, and she imagined hers were even darker, as Nino and Alya just stayed where they were as they watched the bumbled interaction. Adrien’s eyes were on Marinette, and something she saw in them made the situation worst. Did he hate her for putting him in this position?

“A-are you okay Marinette?” He asked as he pushed the table far enough back so that he could stand. He started to walk around the table to help her up again, but Marinette suddenly glanced at her friend’s wide grin. She was happy her plan had worked in some way, but to Marinette, it looked like both her and Nino were laughing at her. Mortified by everyone’s eyes on her, Marinette started to feel tears burning in her eyes, and before Adrien reached her, she stood and bolted up the stairs to her room. The teens watched her go, unable to stop their crying friend. Alya felt horrible, she glanced at Nino and Adrien before rushing up the stairs after her friend. 

The trapdoor leading to her friend's room was shut so, with a sigh, she stepped down a few steps to say, “Nino, Adrien, go ahead and head back to school, Marinette and I will probably be a little late.”

“Sure thing Alya, see you both later.” Nino said as he began pushing his friend toward the door as the normally calm model became a stuttering mess of half-voiced apologizes. One would think that with his status of being a teen heartthrob, he was used to girls crying over him, but he’d never had them cry because of him. Alya waved them away before turning back to her friend’s door and began attempting to get her to let her in. Nino and Adrien took the back way out of the upper floor apartment. It was only once they were back on the street that Adrien managed to regain enough composure to speak clearly.

“How did that go so wrong?” He asked to no one in particular, but Nino answered anyway.

“That’s just Marinette, she’s just a little clumsy, dude, you know that. Besides, it isn’t the first time she’s tripped into you,” Nino said, as Adrien realized he was right. He’d always noticed how stuttery and clumsy Marinette was around him, but it’d never ended this badly before. She’d never cried before, and he didn’t know how to handle that. He wished he could have apologized properly in case he’d done something wrong, and he was just about to turn around to head back up and do just that when someone behind him called his name.

“Adrien! Hey, can I talk to you real quick?” It was Lila. He wished he could use any excuse in the book to get away from her, but years of proper etique wouldn’t let him. So he plastered on his model smile all the photographers loved and nodded at her.

“Nino, tell Alya to let Marinette know that I’m sorry if I did anything to make her uncomfortable. If there was anything I can do to make it up to her, please let me know,” Adrien said as he walked toward Lila.

“Sure thing dude!” Nino called as Adrien waved back and met up with Lila on the steps to their school.

 

*****************************************************

 

“Marinette, girl come on I said I’m sorry! I didn’t think it would end up like this! You didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m sure Adrien doesn’t blame you either,” Alya said as she tried, again, to get her friend out of her room but to no avail. She could hear Marinette sobbing softly, probably on her chase with her face buried in the pillow there. Alya admitted to getting Adrien to lean on her, but everything else was a happy, or in this case unhappy, accident. Marinette knew her friend hadn’t meant for all this to happen, but it did and she didn’t know how she’d ever face Adrien again without seeing the scene play out over and over in her head.

Her face inches from Adrien’s, her knees on either side of his hips, sitting on his lap and the warmth of their legs touching, causing her heart to do gymnastics in her chest. She would never forget the embarrassment she felt in that moment, she would never forget his pink cheeks as he stared up at her. He didn’t smile nervously or push her away, in fact, he barely did anything in response to their odd situation in the moment, and that realization scared her more than anything. His lack of reaction, of emotion, made her think that he hated the fact that she was so close to him and if he still felt that way when their paths crossed again, she didn’t know what she’d do.

“Alya, what if he hates me?” Marinette cried out, lifting her head from the chase she was laying on, just as Alya has guessed.

“Marinette, you know that’s not possible. I don’t think that boy could really hate anyone. I mean maybe his father sometimes, but even then I don’t think that is hate more like a strong dislike.” Alya leaned close to the trapdoor, straining to hear anything from her friend and smiling when the crying quieted. She stepped back a bit as she heard footsteps coming closer to the entry, smiling as Marinette swung the door open to look down the stairs at her friend.

“How can I face him after that, Alya? I mean, I was straddling him! That image is gonna be in my head for weeks!”

“I should hope so, that was pretty hot,” Alya teased, grinning at her friend who leaned over and grabbed a pillow to chase her back down the stairs. Alya ran for it, laughter bubbling up, all while Marinette was groaning with heated cheeks. After a few more minutes, Marinette calmed down enough that she thought she could try going back to school. “Come on girl, I’m sure he just felt bad for putting you in that kind of position. He doesn’t know what to do with such situations, watch him apologize for making you uncomfortable or something.”

“Yeah, you’re right. He doesn’t like making people feel uncomfortable, but I don’t think I could bear it if he apologized. It wasn’t his fault, after all, it was my own clumsiness,” Marinette said as she walked with her friend back to the school’s front doors. Nino was waiting for them anxiously by the doors, and upon seeing them, waved at them. 

“Let’s go see what Nino wants,” Alya said as she took the steps two at a time.

“Probably to talk with you,” Marinette mused as she followed her friend. She caught the tail end of whatever Nino was saying, so she had to ask, “What about Adrien?”

“He said that he was sorry if he upset you and wants to make it up in some way.” Alya said for him, causing him to just shrug. Marinette blinked a few times as the words processed before, finally, sighing.

“It’s fine, he doesn’t have to do anything. He didn’t do anything to me, I’m just sorry if I made him mad at me,” Marinette admitted.

“You didn’t, but he was really worried about you. I’ll tell him you’ll think about it.” Nino said as he started to make him way inside. The bell rang, signaling that class was about to begin, so the three of them began rushing inside.

“Hey, want about an invite to a photoshoot?” Alya suggested. Marinette glanced up at her friend, surprised. “Makes perfect sense, since you love fashion. Gives you an excuse to get closer to him!”

“I don’t want him to feel forced to pay me back for something he didn’t do!” Marinette said, shaking her head quickly. They were rushing up the stairs and Marinette froze at the top, staring at the classroom door as Nino stepped inside. 

“Marinette, I really don’t think he will feel that way. I don’t know him as well as Nino, but I do know he would never think the worst like that. If anything, he would be happy to do that if he thought it was helping you toward your career in design. Just trust me on this, okay?” Alya hugged her friend as she spoke, hoping to convince her that she was thinking much too deeply into her worries like she normally did.

“You might be right Alya, but I still wouldn't feel right suggesting that when he didn't do anything wrong. It was all me and my clumsiness,” Marinette replied sadly as she walked into class. Alya followed her friend inside and watched the nervous reaction between Marinette and Adrien as her friend tried to cover her face and the model looked pained. She felt bad for the two awkward teens and looked at Nino for support. Giving a quick thumbs up to Alya, he leaned over to Adrien.

“Hey dude, maybe you could invite Marinette to your photo shoot tomorrow morning,” Nino suggested.

“You think she'd like that? It's kinda boring, really.” Adrien whispered back. He felt horrible about embarrassing Marinette like that, so if Nino thought that would make her happy and show how sorry he was for making her feel uncomfortable, he would try anything. He valued her friendship too much to lose it for tripping over his own two feet.

“Totally dude! You know Marinette loves fashion and design, I think she’d appreciate it.”

“Did she ask you to ask me that?” Adrien still wasn’t completely convinced. 

“Actually, she said you had nothing to be sorry for. I think she feels a bit guilty too, so maybe you should just ask her and see what she says,” Nino offered.

“Yeah, I guess it can’t hurt, right?” He did know Marinette liked fashion, she had even won his father’s contest with that cool hat, even if it did have feathers. As the rest of the day went on, he planned out how he would ask her before finally deciding to just ask the question plainly. Nino and Adrien were walking out of the building talking about their weekend plans when they saw Marinette and Alya talking with some of their other friends. Adrien prepared himself, and stepped down the stairs and walked up to Marinette, the question on his lips when someone jumped him from behind.

“Adrikins! Want to hang out tomorrow? You could swing by my daddy’s hotel and we could go swimming in the pool on the roof!” Chloe practically purred out her request, and he tried not to cringe as every eye was on them, including Marinette. 

“Not tomorrow, Chloe, I have a shoot in the morning and extra piano lessons. Sorry, maybe next time,” he answered politely as he pried her arms from around his neck and walked over to Marinette and Alya who has snuck away during the interruption. Chloe sneered a moment before twitching away with her best friend Sabrina quickly following after. He didn’t see the action, and right then he didn’t care as he called out, “Marinette, wait!”

The girl froze, going stock still as her friend Alya stayed close to her side. He saw the other girl whisper something to Marinette, but bluenette didn’t turn around. He stalled a few steps away from her and began to open his mouth when a horn sounded near them all. It was the Gorilla, waiting to take him home. He had to make this fast.

“Marinette, I’m sorry if I upset you in any way, and it’s okay if you say no, but I’d like to invite you to my photoshoot tomorrow. It’ll be at the Arc de Triomphe at 9:30. I hope to see you there,” He trailed off, quietly adding the last part more for himself than anyone else. She still never turned around. Another honk from his bodyguard sent him turning away and walking to the car, but there was a quiet voice that made his hand freeze on the door handle.

“Are you sure?” He turned his head slowly around, seeing Marinette’s pinked face and rounded eyes. He almost thought he saw tears in them but brushed the idea away in order to respond.

“Yes, I am. Will you come?” He added the question to give her to option to decline, though somewhere deep inside himself, he hoped she wouldn’t.

“A-alright,” was all she could manage, but that made his face lighten up in a smile that made her cheeks feel even warmer.

“Great! See you tomorrow!” He said, getting into the car quickly with the goofy grin still plastered on his face. Plagg, hiding inside a pocket on the inside of his white shirt, poked his head out to make quiet gagging noises. Adrien glared down at the little, black cat Kwami, jerked his head at his bodyguard still driving and Plagg, with a roll of his eyes, hid back where he was.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where the photo shoot happens.  
> Where Lila appears and screws everything up.  
> Where things get real... confusing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I am writing this, Chapter 3 is now complete and waiting for some light editing. After you read this chapter, feel free to check out the source material as my story diverts a bit because it felt right. I'm not stretching it out, I promise. I'm all about happy endings!

For the first time in a long time, Adrien was actually excited by the thought of a photo shoot. He’d never had anyone there with him before, so when he’d excitedly come home and told Natalie about inviting Marinette to the shoot and she confirmed his father had approved of the guest, he nearly jumped for joy right in the middle of the hall. As he prepared himself for the day, Plagg indulging himself in his second wheel of camembert already, he took a moment to readjust his miraculous on his finger before checking himself one more time in the mirror of his bathroom. He had to make sure nothing went wrong today because there was a chance that if everything went smoothly, maybe his father would let him bring other friends to shoots.

“Plagg, I have a good feeling about today!” Adrien announced to the green-eyed floating cat as he walked out of the bathroom.

“Oh really? Well, then today is bound to end up with you falling on your face or something. Maybe that Mari girl will trip and ruin the whole shoot, you never know,” Plagg teased, taking a bite out of his newest hunk of smelly cheese.

“I love how much concern you have for me, but today will be a good day,” Adrien rolled his eyes at the snarky feline god and headed for the door. “Come on, or you’ll be left here without the camembert.”

Plagg took the hint and zoomed to his hiding spot as Adrien opened his door to head to breakfast. Walking into the dining room, as empty as usual, he sat down at his place at the table and uncovered his breakfast. _As bland as expected _, Adrien mused as he ate quickly. Natalie, as punctual as ever, walked in the room just as he was finishing up.__

____

____

“You photoshoot is on schedule, the clothes for the shoot are arriving shortly on location so you’ll have to change there. This is a two-part shoot since it’s your only one for the day and we have limited time to use the space. I will be on hand to let you know when it is time to change, so don’t worry about needing your phone for an alarm. Your father will not be able to attend this shoot, but he wishes for you to be careful and not get hurt.

Your friend has the address to the location, as well as a means to get there, correct? I can have your bodyguard pick her up if needed,” Natalie stated, practically monotone.

“I think Marinette can get there herself, she’s usually pretty good about getting places on her own,” Adrien responded as he stood to head for the door. That made him think about something he had never noticed before, how _did _Marinette get around so quickly? He knew she lived right next to the school, so that was obvious, but other places were a wonder. He’d seen her other places besides school, like the Couffaine houseboat and the zoo (even if she didn’t know he was there), as well as another photoshoot at a park when she appeared to be babysitting with Alya. He’d never seen her riding a bike, so she had to walk everywhere or maybe catch a ride.__

____

____

Putting the thought aside as he stepped outside, he walked to the car and climbed in the back seat. Natalie stepped into the passenger seat, shut the door, and told the gorilla to head to the shoot. Every meter he got closer to the shoot he got a little more excited because that meant he was getting just another meter closer to seeing his friend. He hoped she wouldn't still be upset with him about what happened yesterday, but he knew that he could make today as good as he could for her and put the incident behind them.

**************

Marinette swung from her yo-yo, landing nearby in an alleyway to detransform and walk the rest of the way to the location of the shoot. She didn’t like using Ladybug to get around, but since she had gotten up late and had to rush to get ready, she took the risk and tried to fly under the radar by sticking to less busy streets. It had been a challenge but she made it just in time it seemed, as she saw Adrien getting the finishing touches of makeup on his face. There was a fluttering from the pit of her stomach that she always got whenever she was around Adrien as the butterflies made her nerves rise up. She wished she could purify these insects as easily as she did Akumas, but that was not to be because as she approached, his eyes landed on her and her heart stopped.

His green eyes lit up when they saw her, and he gave a small wave so as to not disrupt the makeup artist. Once the woman had backed away, Adrien walked quickly up to her and Marinette had to swallow the dry lump in her throat several times before she was able to speak.

Upon reaching her, Adrien smiled and said, “Hey Marinette. I’m glad you managed to make it!”

Her cheeks heating quickly at his proximity, she gave her head a quick shake to clear her thoughts before responding. “Yeah, t-thanks for bringing me. I mean inviting me! Sorry, I’m not used to this.” She tried to make up an excuse for her nervousness, but she didn’t think he’d buy it.

“It’s okay, there isn't really much to do but I had them set up a chair for you to sit and watch what’s going on. Come on,” he smiled pleasantly, holding his hand out for her to take. She looked up into the green pools of his eyes, soft and gentle just like the day when he gave her his umbrella all those months ago, and moved on instinct. Her hand slowly raised to rest in his as he gently grabbed it, wrapping his fingers around hers. She didn’t know how she was able, but her feet began to move as she followed Adrien’s lead. Marinette was too focused on the warmth of his skin touching hers to respond for several seconds, before she blinked as he let go, drawing her attention back to his face.

“Huh?” she asked, dumbly.

With a little giggle, he answered, “I said here’s your seat.”

Marinette drew her eyes to the director-like folding chair with the words “Guest” written on it in bright, white letters. Suddenly realizing she had moved quite a ways from where he had taken her hand, she did a little turn around to take in the area. There were two photographers with their gear positioned in completely different locations. She noticed a small, screened off area to the side and she couldn't tell from here, but appeared to be some kind of changing room. That thought brought about a whole host of things she wasn’t prepared to deal with, so she quickly diverted her eyes to Natalie as she tapped away on her tablet. Adrien’s bodyguard was several steps away, head on a swivel as he kept a close eye on everything and nothing. Her eyes returned to Adrien, who had been silently waiting for her to return to him. 

The realization startled her as she took a step back, bumping into the very chair he had brought her too. She lost her balance, and nearly fell if not for Adrien’s quick reaction of grabbing her elbow with one hand and wrapping his other around her slim waist. His action brought her dangerously close to him, and his lips she was suddenly drawn to, and the two quickly parted as a loud crash was heard behind Marinette. The chair she’d bumped into had fallen, and all eyes turned toward the pair, a couple of glares at her for disturbing their jobs. 

Adrien laughed nervously, apologizing for the disruption, and Marinette wondered how quickly she could throw herself into traffic before anyone stopped her. She began to lean down to stand the chair back up when suddenly Adrien was there helping her with the unwieldy thing. He still smiled kindly, despite what she had just forced upon him. Her cheeks were ablaze and she hoped he interpreted it as embarrassment and not what it really was, her strong feelings for him.

Once the chair was back to a standing position, one of the photographers called to Adrien, making him snap his head around to answer with, “Yeah, I’ll be right there.” He turned back to Marinette, making sure she got seated in the chair before saying to her, “You gonna be okay?”

“Y-yep! Just fine, as long as I don’t move,” she teased herself as he nodded and walked to his position. She tried to watch him without staring weirdly, which Marinette found very difficult, so she found her gaze shifting around at the people who were all here for his sake. Some watched politely while others prepared for the next location nearby, and only one person wasn’t even watching him. Natalie just kept her eyes on her tablet, tapping every now and then and sometimes talking to it in hushed tones. Marinette thought it was a little odd, but not too much so seeing as Natalie was probably very busy setting up the rest of Adrien’s and his father’s day, or even the whole next week. Maybe even farther ahead than that!

After nearly thirty minutes, Marinette’s eyes locked helplessly on the ease with which Adrien posed again and again, as directed by the photographer, a loud beeping began ringing out. For a split second, Marinette thought she was dreaming and that was her alarm for school, but quickly realized that it was time for the next section of the shoot. Smiling sheepishly at the quickly approaching model, she fumbled with her sketch pad she’d had out. She had tried to work on a design she thought of while she watched Adrien’s modeling, but became distracted by said model.

He reached where she was sitting, placing a hand on the armrest, so _very _close to her hand, and gave a sigh. “So, is it what you expected?” he asked, casually running a hand through his hair, tousling it a bit.__

____

____

Marinette blinked a couple of times, before stammering, “Y-yeah! I mean, you were right it is a little boring, but not too bad. I mean, watching you do all those poses is awesome, you are able to listen to directions way better than I could in your position, not that I would ever be in your position, obviously.” Mentally, she smacked herself for babbling on and on to him, but he took the compliment.

“Thanks, I have been doing this a while. I bet you’d be good at this too with some practice. What are you drawing?” He tried to peek over her hands to see the sketch she had begun. 

With a shy smile, she tilted the sketchbook for him to see. “Just a design idea I got while watching you, I mean watching you model!” More nervous giggles as Adrien looked carefully at the drawing in awe.

“Hey, that’s amazing! You’re really good a sketching, and, is that me?” Green eyes trailed up to her blue ones and her cheeks glowed. She had drawn the basic sketch of the design, but she had also drawn his perfectly styled hair on the model wearing it. 

“Y-yeah, well like I said watching the whole modeling stuff inspired me, so I just used you, I hope you don’t mind?” she phrased it as a question.

“Not at all, I hope you make it one day so I can model it for you.” Another winning smile from him and Marinette might just pass out. She just wasn’t used to all this attention he was directing only at her and her heart can’t handle it!

“Sure, right, of course, no problem! I’d love to do yo-, I mean that! I’d love it if you could model something I made!” Was it too late for that whole “throw yourself in traffic” idea?

“Well, I still have that hat to model soon, so I will be modeling something you made.” He either ignored her slip or didn’t notice, because he didn’t acknowledge it at all.

Just as she was about to bumble into another stuttering explanation, Natalie cleared her throat from a few steps away. “Adrien, it’s time for you to change for the second half of the shoot.”

“Oh, right. Okay, see you in a bit Marinette,” he said with a smile and turned, walking to that curtained area before. Marinette’s brain stopped working for several long, agonizing seconds. He was going to change, out here. Behind that curtain. Adrien was going to be nearly naked behind a curtain a _few feet from her! _She didn’t think she could handle that as the butterflies in her stomach came back with a vengeance.__

____

____

After focusing on _just breath Marinette _for a little while, whispers began to breeze through her mental mantra. She looked up from her hands folded in her lap and saw what the fuss was about. Lila Rossi walked into the middle of the photo shoot, seemingly searching for something. Or someone. After Lila had caught sight of Marinette, she put a sickly sweet smile on her face and began walking over to her. Marinette tried not to cringe at the other girl’s approach.__

____

____

“Hi Marionette,” Lila said, that same sweet smile never leaving her face.

“It’s Marinette, Lila. We are in the same class, you know,” she responded, gripping tightly onto her sketch pad with both hands. 

Lila had the presence of mind to look shocked. “Oh, I’m sorry, you’re right! Silly me, I just thought I’d point out the simple fact that Adrien was playing you like a puppet.”

This had Marinette sitting back in her chair, cringing away from the accusation. “What are you talking about? I know you lie, everyone knows you lie Lila!”

“Oh, but this is the truth. I see the way you look at him, everyone knows you have a little crush on him. Well too bad, because he is already in a relationship… with me!” Lila gave a harsh laugh that made Marinette’s blood boil.

“You’re lying! I don't believe you,” she angrily replied while Lila just kept snickering. Needing to get away, Marinette stood up and began walking in the opposite direction from Lila, without realizing that she was walking by the screen where Adrien was changing right now. As soon as she crossed the area, the screen opened and Adrien walked out, now fully changed and ready for the next set. Marinette turned her head toward him and froze, suddenly taking in his new appearance.

Adrien stood there in a leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, torn up jeans and a Jagged Stone tee shirt. She had never seen Adrien in leather anything before, so this was a new look for her mind to try and process. She also noticed that his hair was messed up from changing and combined with the leather he looked a little familiar to her. She opened her mouth to say something, but someone else beat her to it.

“Adrien, there you are!” Lila was walking quickly over to him as she called his name. His eyes snapped over to her, shock on his face.

“Lila, what are you-” he started to say, but she cut him off with a hug.

“Your father told me where you were, silly. I told him about your feelings for me and he told me where to find you. He mentioned that a friend was here too, so I thought I’d surprise you. Surprise!” As she finished her speech, she leaned down and kissed him. On. The. Lips.

Marinette felt the world tilt and shatter beneath her feet, and suddenly she was falling into the darkness of heartbreak. She didn’t realize she was walking backward until she tripped over a camera case, falling flat on her butt, just shaking her head. _No, no, no, no, no, NO! _She couldn’t accept this, she wouldn’t. The photographer was yelling at her about his equipment, but all she saw was Lila kissing Adrien. That was her world, that one still image as seconds became hours. Adrien put his hands on Lila and her pushed away. He was about to say something to her, but his gaze found Marinette sprawled out on the ground.__

____

____

“Marinette, are you-” 

_No, _she thought to herself, _I can’t be here anymore. _He seemed to be moving toward her, to help her up if his outstretched hand was any indication, but she couldn’t bear to be close to him right then. Scrambling away from his hand, his touch, _him _, she managed to get to her feet and ran, tears streaming down her face. She didn’t hear the feet quickly following after her, only her blood rushing to her ears. She didn’t hear the multiple cries of her name, just the gasping sobs coming out of her own mouth.______

_____ _

_____ _

When she thought she was finally safe, she opened her little bag, where the Kwami looked up at her chosen’s teary expression.

“Oh Marinette, I’m so sorry,” Tikki said in her high-pitched voice.

“Tikki, please help me this one time.” At her tiny friend’s nod, she cried, “Tikki, transform me!” The magic washed over her in a familiar way, making her stronger and more agile than when she was just Marinette. Her mask covered her tear-stained cheeks, the skin-tight red and black polka-dot suit hugging her form, the matching yo-yo around her waist. With another sob, she grabbed her weapon and swung it up, allowing it to wrap about a chimney and swing out of the alley she had hidden in.

Around the corner, a certain blonde headed, green-eyed boy was hiding his crimson cheeks. Plagg, always nearby his chosen, floated around his head

“Well, what do ya know, the girl you’ve been flirting with all day is the same girl you’ve been flirting with for months! Go figure, huh?” Plagg teased a bewildered Adrien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this one! Look forward to chapter 3 soon, after I write chapter 4. 
> 
> Also, sorry for the cliffhanger, but it makes for the best storytelling, right?
> 
> See you in the next one!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien comes to terms with the knowledge that Ladybug and Marinette are the same person and, after some thought, comes to a decision.
> 
> Which is quickly thrown out the window when he talked to Ladybug that night for patrol.
> 
> What will he do when he realizes the reason his Lady is crying is because of him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being patient and leaving all the lovely comments, I love reading and responding to them! I hope you enjoy this chapter because I had a great love/hate relationship for it, which you'll learn why after you read it. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Plagg poked Adrien several times, but his chosen had yet to move from the spot. It seemed the kid was glued against the wall, sitting mere feet from where he saw Marinette transform into Ladybug (a fact he had know a while ago because he had sensed Tikki, but chose to keep quiet). Finally, having lost his patience with him, Plagg zoomed down to the hand that was covering his master’s mouth, and bit down hard with his tiny fangs.

“Yeeouch!” Adrien screamed, pulling his hand away and flinging Plagg in the same motion. 

“Welcome back from the world of the semi-conscious. Did you have a nice trip?” Plagg joked as he floated back to hover in front of his chosen. Adrien blinked at the Kwami, trying to put the pieces of everything he was thinking together in his head. Marinette had run away after Lila kissed him. Marinette ran away and transformed. Marinette transformed into Ladybug. He loved Ladybug. Marinette was a nice, kind, and caring friend of his. Marinette was Ladybug. Which means…

“I’m in love with my nice, kind, and caring friend,” he didn't realize he’d voice the thought out loud until Plagg started laughing. He somehow found the strength to drag himself up off the ground he had slid down to after the reveal of Ladybug’s secret (now Marinette’s secret too, he reminded himself) and began making his way back to the photo shoot. “Marinette is Ladybug.”

“Yeah, I think that has been clearly established,” Plagg jeered, undeterred by Adrien’s shock.

“That means I love her, right?” He looked at the cat floating a few inches from his face, having somehow gotten a piece of smelly cheese from his jacket pocket.

“Um, yes. How many times you gonna say that?”

“But you don’t understand! Marinette is Ladybug! Why has that never occured to me before now? The hair, the eyes, that little bag at her waist exactly where her yo-yo rests. So much makes sense now. That’s how she gets places so fast too, she just transforms and swings there,” Adrien said as things finally began to fit together.

“Yeah, pretty crazy right? The love of your life has been sitting behind you in class for months and you never knew.” As Adrien’s head turned, his saucer-round eyes staring at Plagg, he added, “Wild, right?”

Adrien made his way, slowly, back to the photo shoot where everyone was worriedly looking at him and fussing over him. Everyone was talking to him, asking him where he went, and why, but he didn’t answer a single one of them. At some point he was dragged away for makeup and hair, while he was still trying to process the knowledge he had gained. Marinette was Ladybug, his Lady, his Princess! He would have to tell her, he was so happy and excited. They could finally be together, they could get married and live on a desert island and eat fruit and-

Wait, she had no idea he was Chat Noir. She had told him over and over they weren’t supposed to know each other’s identity. But he couldn’t keep this a secret, could he? He’d have to let her know he knew who she really was, and he’d have to do it tomorrow. Wait, today is Saturday and tomorrow is Sunday which means…

He’d have to wait till Monday. Unless there was a new Akuma. God, he wished there would be an Akuma soon, he couldn’t wait any longer to tell her how he felt and that he knew who she was!

At some point towards the end of the shoot, Lila strolled up to him from Marinette’s seat he didn’t even realize she had taken. Honestly, he didn’t even realize she was still here much less where she was. At seeing her now, armed with the new knowledge of whom she had just hurt, his dumbfounded look after all he’d been through this morning, turned to one of disgust.

“Hi Adrien, were you able to find your little friend? Are you ready to take me out to that dinner you promised me earlier?” Lila’s smooth as honey voice nearly gave him a toothache.

“Lila, why did you kiss me? I told you I had feelings for someone else and that I didn’t want to date you.” He thought back to yesterday, when Lila had confessed to him after lunch and he had turned her down. She had laughed it off and told him to take her out to dinner tomorrow, which he had also refused because he had a full day planned.

“Well, I told you yesterday, didn’t I? I love you, Adrien. We’re gonna be so cute together, we’ll be the best looking couple in Paris!” Lila smiled pleasantly, and several people around him made quiet “awww” sounds at her sweet and innocent act. No one knew her like he knew her, aside from Ladybug. And now, he realized, Marinette too. Maybe that was why she ran away, or was it something else?

“Yes, you did. And I also told you I had feelings for someone else. I’m sorry Lila, but please stay away from me. Natalie, I’m ready to leave,” he stated plainly as he headed for the car. Natalie had hurried after him, followed by the Gorilla as he would be driving. Lila tried to follow too, but Adrien’s bodyguard had seen the exchange and stopped her in her tracks with a gruff sound that was more animal than human, causing her to wilt on the spot. With a snort of satisfaction, the large man nodded and turned toward Adrien and Natalie in the car.

Later, after coming home and having another lonely dinner, he sat on the end of his bed, fingers interlaced in front of him as the clock ticked slowly. Tonight was a patrol night, so he would have to be his usual Chat Noir self with his Lady, but how could he now that he knew? The girl who had his heart and one of his best friends were now one in the same and everything would be perfect now when he told her tonight. Right?

Going over all their past encounters, he remembered one in particular that happened recently where he had set up a date for them. Candles all along a rooftop and rose pedals, it was beautiful if he did say so himself. When she didn’t show, he had visited Marinette who was as heartbroken as he was, so he took her instead. The joy in her eyes, the spark of happiness he’d almost missed in his own sadness and hurt, he now realized had also been Ladybug’s happiness and joy. As the thought crossed his mind, his heart leapt up into his throat. She had seen it and loved it!

But then the rest of that night played out, the parts after the Akuma when Ladybug had seen the site in her costumed form. _There’s a boy I _\- she had started, but never finished. She had someone she cared about, and it wasn’t Chat Noir. The joy he felt all day since returning home suddenly sunk, dragging him with it. Marinette and Ladybug cared for someone. Could he force his own wishes onto her ? No, he decided. He wouldn’t tell her, he loved her too much to put her into that position. Besides, he didn’t think he could handle the rejection of them both.__

____

____

Sobered from the day’s events and his most recent revelation, he walked to the window, sliding it open as he held out his hand. “Plagg, transform me.” Despite himself, the sudden rush of power filling him caused him to let out a small gasp. He loved being Chat Noir, loved the feeling of freedom and power that came with it. Freedom to go and do whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted to. Power to protect the people of Paris, his friends, and his Lady. 

Jumping across the rooftops of the city was freeing as he launched himself, getting ever closer to their usual meeting spot by the Eiffel Tower. He was both excited and dreading their impending meeting as he got closer and closer to the rooftop that was his destination. 

Within a few more minutes, he arrived at the spot to start their patrol, but she wasn’t here. Odd, she was usually here first. He decided to try and call her as he reached behind him to grab his staff, flicking it open with one clawed hand. He hit the speed dial that called Ladybug and waited. She answered on the fourth ring.

“Hi Chat,” was her opening line. She sounded upset, like she’d been crying, and the tone startled him. He’d never heard Ladybug cry (Marinette either, for that matter), so he put on his best Chat Noir bravado and answered her.

“Good evening, My Mari-Ladybug!” Smooth Adrien, really smooth. “By chance are you running a little late this evening, or are we not patrolling tonight?”

She took a moment before turning the video call on her face, when it wasn't before. Her eyes were as red under the mask as the mask itself, and he had enough presence of mind at let regret show on his face. “I’ll be there soon, long as I don’t fall off the roof. The way my luck is going the past couple of days, it might be the highlight of my weekend.”

“Ladybug, have you been crying?” Was all he could think to ask. He’d never seen her this upset before. Angry at Chloe for some thing or another, sure. Defensive of her friends, absolutely. But this brokenly sad, never. Never for either of them.

“No. Yes. I mean… I know I’m kinda breaking my own rule, but I really need to talk to someone. Can we skip patrol and just talk?” His heart broke for her, and he decided right then and there that the one who had hurt his princess this badly would pay ten fold! 

“Of course. We’re not just partners, My Lady, we’re friends. First and foremost. I’ll be at our usual spot, waiting for you,” he said kindly, brushing the side of the screen out of her view. If only she knew how much he hurt for her, and he didn’t even know why she was upset. She hung up the call, and he hoped she would make it alright as he tried to figure out how to deal with the person responsible for hurting his Princess.

A few, agonizing minutes later, Ladybug landed next to him, padded up softly and sat heavily against a nearby chimney. She wiped her eyes with her costumed hand, another stray tear having fallen since he spoke with her, and that knowledge made him burn more with pure, unadulterated anger. He waited until she was ready to speak, more for fear he might slip up again then for the small amount of patience he had.

Just when he thought he could wait no longer, she half turned her head to him, those sapphire eyes sparkled with more unshed tears. “Remember that boy I told you about?”

“Yes, I believe you mentioned him the day that couples ice cream man got akumatized,” he stated calmly. _So it was the boy who broke your heart. I think if you give me enough hints as to who he is, I might break something of his in return, _he thought to himself quietly as she continued.__

____

____

“Well, I saw him kissing someone today,” the last word came out as a broken sob and his hand clenched tighter onto his stick.

“I’m so sorry, Ladybug. Who is he?” He tried to sound calm, casual even, but she caught the hint of danger in his voice because she glanced up at him. He tried to lean back and act calm, and she let it slide again as her gaze traveled to the Eiffel Tower.

“You probably know of him, he’s kinda famous. He goes to my school, and I’ve had a crush on him since… since he gave me his umbrella.”

“U-umbrella? Umbrella you say, well um, heh heh.” Dumbfounded. He was utterly dumbfounded. Dumbfounded and just plain DUMB. 

“Yeah, I thought at first he was a snooty rich kid like someone else in my class, but he turned out to be very kind, and-and sweet and…” She broke down into sobs again, and the only thought in his mind was to hold her. He found himself moving before he realized it, as he touched her knee with his gloved hand. He felt the emotions burning in the back of his eyes too, but put on his best model act, for her. Always, for her.

“I’m sorry he hurt you, My Lady. Tell me what happened,” he surprised himself at his own gentle tone, considering his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. _Umbrella. My umbrella. I’d given Marinette/Ladybug my umbrella. Sure, there was a chance that it was someone else’s umbrella, but it could be mine! ___

____

____

“Today, as my civilian self, I went to...an event with him. Remember when I said he was famous? Well, he’s fashion model famous, so I went to his photo shoot.”

He nodded along, because if he opened his mouth he was sure he’d scream for joy. This couldn’t be happening!

“Well, half way through, Lila showed up. You remember her, she was Volpina, that lying fox!” This time when she spoke, she showed something that wasn’t sadness, but anger. She spat the word “fox” like it tasted bad.

“Yeah, I think I do. She was very tricky with her illusions if memory serves. Almost got...you.” Yes, Volpina almost got Marinette/Ladybug to hand over her earrings to Hawkmoth… because she was dangling an illusion of himself off the Eiffel tower. Umbrella, photoshoot, Lila as Volpina, if she mentioned the kiss there would be no doubt. _But she did earlier, dummy! _He chided himself. This couldn’t be real.__

____

____

“Well, she still likes the boy she was after that day. Lila showed up, said some really mean things to me, then walked up and kissed Adrien.” She slipped, she knew she’d slipped and she knew he knew she did too. He didn’t mention it, and the moment of panic in her eyes dissipated. _It is me after all! ___

____

____

“I’m so sorry, Ladybug. I’m so sorry,” was all he could say as he moved closer, sitting next to her. She leaned against him, the tears flowing from her eyes again, and he carefully, slowly, wrapped an arm around her in a half hug. Whether from his apology or his movement caused it, he would never know, but she flung herself against him, head on his chest right under his bell zipper. One arm snaked around his back, the other was by her face as she cried. His cheeks flushed hot, as the arm that was around her moved to the back of her head as she quietly sobbed against him, his other tightly holding her. “It’s okay, I’m here. You don’t have to hide anything from me. We’ve been through so much that… that’s it’s okay.”

As he said the words, a troubling thought occurred to him. She, both Ladybug and Marinette, loved Adrien. Adrien the model, both in magazines and as a student. The pretty, calm natured, over protected Adrien. Ladybug had rejected Chat Noir more than once. If he revealed himself now… would she accept him as he was? _I can’t tell her, not now. I can’t stand being rejected one more time by someone I love. ___

____

____

“I ran like a coward! I ran and ran, transformed and ran some more. I got home, and cried. I called my best friend and cried. I’ve been crying ever since. Th-the tears just wo-won’t stop.” Her sobs broke up her speech, and his heart at the same time.

“Hey, it’ll be alright. I believe it. There has to be an explanation, right? I mean, maybe that model kid was just doing it for a shoot?” He offered to distract himself from his own guilt.

“No! The camera’s weren’t on, and she said he accepted her feelings. Chat, if they love each other where… Where does that leave me? What am I supposed to do about school?” She turned her face up to look at him then, and it took every ounce of strength his enhanced body had, not to kiss the tears away and call her “Princess” right there. He would be her knight in shining armor tonight, and hide behind the mask a little longer.

“That leaves you right where you are, I’m afraid. Here with me, on this rooftop, looking out on all of Paris. You are the strongest, bravest person I’ve ever met. Facing down giant babies and T-Rex’s is nothing, but facing a boy at school on Monday is impossible because you think he has a girlfriend? You said so yourself, Lila is a liar. Why would you think she was telling the truth?” He pulled her away a little, and suddenly wished he had thought to pack a couple of tissues in his pockets.

“I saw them kissing Chat! How am I gonna face him ever again?!” She shouted, before covering her mouth again, fighting back another sob.

“Yes, you did. But did you ever go back? Listen to what happened? Let him explain at all?” He found himself being defensive. Maybe if she had stayed, maybe if he had explained, she wouldn’t be here right now. But he knew had she not run away, he wouldn’t have seen her transform, and his heart wouldn’t be the broken pieces it was over all the tears she’d split.

“No, I couldn’t stand to see him happy with that liar,” she admitted.

“Well, m-maybe you could… ask him.” He had an idea. It was crazy and reckless and it might not work… but it also might.

“But what if he-” she began, but he cut her off.

“What if you’re wrong. What if Lila lied through her pearly white fox teeth and said he accepted but didn’t? What if she forced herself on him? He’s a model right?” At her nod, he continued, “Well, he’s used to people throwing themselves at him, one would assume. He has an image to uphold, he can’t push people away from him in public like that. Gossip columns would have a field day, just like they did when Nadia said we were in love before Alya from the Ladyblog corrected things, remember?”

Again, she nodded, because she hid her face every time the question was asked after an Akuma attack. She pulled away a little, and he was immediately sorry he had pushed her away to begin with. His arms felt empty without her in them, but being the good partner and friend he was, he allowed his arms to drop to his sides as he soldiered on.

“See? Maybe it’s something like that, but you won’t know if you never ask. Monday. Ask him Monday before you assume anything, My Lady.”

“I… Okay, I will. Thank you Chat, you’ve helped more than you know,” she smiled, it was small and barely there, but it was the first smile he’d seen on her since this morning.

“Oh, I know how im-purr-tant to you I am! I’m just doing my job,” he teased, hiding perfectly the fact that he was dying a little inside at that tiny smile.

Then, she giggled. 

And his heart nearly stopped.

“Silly kitty, of course you are.” Whether she did it on purpose or not, he couldn’t begin to guess, but she reached over and scratched the top of his head. His eyes closed instantly, enjoying the tingle that ran down his spine with each tiny movement. He felt more then heard the purr that escaped his throat, but she caught it and blinked in surprise at him, her hand stilling. He went from dying to gasping for air in less than a second as he smacked a hand over his mouth. “Did you just-”

“Nope! No idea what you’re talking about! Well, would you look at the time, it’s so late, maybe we should turn in for the night,” he stammered nervously. He purred. He purred at Marinette! Just as he began to wonder if he could drown in the Seine while transformed, he heard her soft giggle.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind you know. It’s cute, and I feel a lot better now thanks to you. I doubt there is anything you could do that would ruin my mood right now,” she said, pleasantly.

_Oh, I’m sure there are a couple of things, _he thought, but he said, “I am ever at your service, My Lady. If you ever need me, just seek meow-t.”__

____

____

This time, the giggle became a laugh, pure and genuine. At hearing her he decided one thing instantly, he loved her laugh. 

“Okay, okay, I think you’re right. I think it’s time we head back to our houses. Thanks again for being there, Kitty. I owe you one,” she told him, earnestly.

“I’ll remember that,” he answered as he drew himself up, and bowed to her. “My Lady, I’ll take my leave now, and remember to talk to that Adrien boy first thing at school. And if it turns out he is with that liar, I am willing to visit him if you want me to-”

“No! No need for that, but I will ask. See you Monday night for patrol if an Akuma doesn’t attack first.” With a final wave, she grabbed her yo-yo and swung away. Adrien watched her go, she didn’t head in the direction of the Dupain-Cheng bakery, but he assumed she took a different route incase he followed her. He didn’t. He had no need to. What he did need was to sit down and sort out how the hell this day had turned out the way it did.

Sitting heavily back onto the roof, he laid down against the tiles, arms out wide and said to the sky, “What have I gotten myself into now?” The stars had no answer for him, he forced himself up into a standing position. He had the vaguest idea of a plan forming in his mind, but it was still a long way from being complete. “Well, at least I have all of Sunday off to figure it out,” he mumbled as he took out his staff once again and began vaulting home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the angsty bit there, but it had to be done. I mean can you blame the poor boy? 
> 
> I have the next chapter written, for the most part, just gonna make a few additions and changes before it's ready to be up.
> 
> See you in the next one!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette just had her emotional breakdown with Chat and now she is dealing with the aftermath of it. School on Monday is gonna be hard, and it is, just...
> 
> not the kinda fo hard she was expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the wonderful comments so far in this work. I actually have another one if you all were interested in reading more of my work involving a couple of OC's my husband and I have. But that's just an idea for you.
> 
> In the meantime, enjoy this chapter!

After arriving back home that night from her emotional breakdown in front of Chat, Marinette detransformed and flopped on her bed. She was beyond exhausted tonight, from the photo shoot this morning, then talking with Alya afterward and crying, to being Ladybug and opening up so much of herself to Chat tonight. He had helped her calm down and she was very grateful to him for that, but she still felt horrible for forcing him into that situation in the first place. A concern she voiced to Tikki, who responded kindly to her chosen.

“Chat Noir has always been there for you whenever you were in trouble, so it’s not surprising he was able to help in this case too. We know he loves puns and joking around, but even he has his serious moments. He’s your partner and friend, even if he didn’t know what you’re going through, he had to at least try to make you feel better in case of an Akuma.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I have to be able to fight with a clear head, but it feels more like he was being kind than just worrying about the safety of Paris. Like he was actually worried about… me,” she whispered the last word, an odd flutter in the pit of her stomach as she thought back to the way Chat had held her when she finally broke down. The kind words he had spoken softly to her while he absently stroked her the back of her head. She ignored the warmth rushing to her cheeks and climbed up into bed, ready for sleep to claim her and make all of today be a bad dream. “Good night Tikki.”

“Sweet dreams Marinette,” the Kwami said as she floated close to her friend, lightly kissing her forehead before settling in her own hand-made bed Marinette had made for her. 

It took a little while for Marinette to actually fall asleep, but when she did she was dreaming of warm, leather-clad arms around her shoulders and gentle claws grazing the back of her head.

Sunday was a day full of helping her parents in the bakery, taking a lunch break with Alya up in her room as she went over the newest snapshots of Paris’ heroes saving the city from the most recent Akuma attack, before playing Mecha Strike IV with her father. Playing the game again reminded her of lunch a few days prior, and she quickly lost to Papa in the second round of the game, much to his delight. All in all, it was a pretty usual Sunday at the Dupain-Cheng’s. That was until it was once again time get up the next morning for school, which Marinette was not ready for.

“Come on Marinette, you promised Chat you would talk to Adrien, and you have your report due today!” Tikki was crying over the sound her Marinette’s alarm blaring loudly.

“No, I can’t do it! Chat will understand!” Head under the pillow, wrapped tightly in blankets, she hadn’t moved to even turn off the alarm. She thought she was ready and felt like she was last night, but having it actually be Monday morning was a whole new story altogether.

“Marinette, don’t you have school today?” Mama called from downstairs. She’d done a decent enough job not telling her parents the whole story of her heartbreak, but they had found out about her coming home crying after the photoshoot. She danced around the details, but something told her they knew enough to know she was hurt. Especially when her Mama continued with, “Want me to call the school and tell them you’re sick? I don’t mind if you don’t want to face Adrien today, honey, just let me get the phone and-”

“No Mama! I’ll go, I can’t afford to miss any more time. Just… just give me a few minutes and I’ll be down,” Marinette said as she bolted upright in bed. Scrambling down the ladder and completing her morning routine in record time, she rushed downstairs to grab something to go. She wanted to talk to her parents about Adrien about as much as she wanted to talk to Adrien himself, but she chose the lesser of two evils since she lived with her parents. Besides, with Ladybug having to fight Akumas whenever they appear, that meant missed time from school. That meant she couldn’t afford sick days, or even “I want to avoid talking to my crush who broke my heart” days.

“There you are sweetie. Have a good day at school, and if you can’t handle it you’re always welcome to come home at lunch. We won’t hold it against you,” Papa said gently, walking over to his daughter to give her a quick hug.

“Thanks Papa, but I think I’ll be okay. See you both at lunch!” she called as she ran out the door.

“Your parents are very worried about you, and they love you very much. Why don’t you tell them the whole truth?” Tikki questions as Marinette walked across the crosswalk after checking for cars.

“Because they’d smother me in love and I just wanna try to deal with this on my own. Besides, maybe Chat is right and I misunderstood something. Though how you can misunderstand someone kissing someone you like is beyond me,” Marinette rolled her eyes as she spoke, then spotted Alya and ran over to her.

“I’m honestly surprised to see you here. You sure you’re up to seeing Mr. douche-of-a-model today?” Alya sneered, obviously still upset that Adrien had hurt her friend.

“Yeah, I think I am. Maybe I got something wrong, and the kiss didn’t mean anything,” Marinette nervously laughed, but her friend wasn’t convinced. But she didn’t have to be, because a few seconds later, Adrien’s car pulled up by the curb. The door swung open and the teenager stepped out of the car, shut the door behind him, and fist-bumped Nino who’d been waiting nearby. “Okay, maybe I’m not as okay as I thought,” she mumbled as she turned toward the entrance of the school about to head inside with Alya on her heels.

She was just crossing the threshold when footsteps were heard running up behind them, and a very familiar voice cried out, “Marinette, wait!”

Everyone froze, everyone except Adrien as he took the stairs two at a time to catch up to Marinette. Alya turned around first, Marinette followed shortly after to face her longtime crush, now eye level with her because he was on a slightly lower step them she was. She tried to avoid looking at him, or at least into his eyes, but they always drew her attention. Looking at him now made her heart hurt anew, but she stood, resolved to get answers. She channeled her inner Ladybug, and said, “Yes, Adrien?”

He sighed before saying, “I wanted to apologize for Saturday. I had no idea Lila was going to be there and-”

“Did I hear my name, boyfriend?” 

Speak of the devil.

“Why are you talking about me with Marionette? I hope all good things.” Lila sauntered over to Adrien from inside the school building, her movements lith and smooth.

“Actually, I was about to correct something with you. Here,” Adrien said as he handed her a piece of paper.

“What’s this? A love note?” Lila took it, a broad smile on her face until she read the paper. “Wait, this is-”

“A restraining order, from my father. According to that paper, you are to stay at a distance no less than ten feet from me at all times. Don’t talk to me, text me, or contact me in any way. My bodyguard told him about your actions at the photoshoot and Father had this drafted over the weekend,” Adrien clarified, in front of the entire school. Whispers began to circulate and Lila’s face became redder than her hair.

“You-you can't do this!” She screamed, crumbling the paper up and throwing it to the ground.

“I didn't do anything. You did by trying to force your own lies onto other people. Maybe you could try to be nice and truthful, you might get some real friends that way.”

With a loud groan, Lila stormed past everyone and off the school's grounds. Everyone was shocked by what happened, both Adrien’s boldness and Lila’s reaction. The shock didn't last as the first bell rang and students rushed to get to their classrooms, Alya and Nino quietly leaving the stunned Marinette and confident Adrien to talk privately.

“Anyway, what I was trying to say Marinette is that I’m sorry. Lila wasn’t there because my father told her, she overheard me ask you Friday after school and showed up on her own. And what happened, I’m sorry too. I was too shocked to do anything at all because…” his cheeks were red, why were his cheeks red? _What is going on and why are his cheeks red! ___

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“I haven’t kissed anyone before that wasn’t family. Sorry if that shocked you,” he said, sheepishly finishing the thought. Marinette was frozen, the butterflies back in her stomach again and she felt her cheeks warm just like his were. Why was he blushing too?!

“I-” she squeaked, cleared her throat, and tried again. “I guess that makes sense. I’m-I’m sorry she stole your first k-kiss,” she said, like a complete idiot.

“Um, yeah. But hey, nothing is purrfect, right?” He scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously.

Wait, did he just make a pun? A _cat _pun?!__

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“You’re right, nothing and no one is perfect,” _not even Ladybug _she mentally finished.__

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“Right. I also heard that Lila teased you, so you have my sympathies for that too. My father offered to have the same judge who approved my restraining order give you one too if you wanted. After all, you were a guest at his shoot so-”

“No!” her voice was pitched too high and cracked a bit. Adrien stared at her for a beat, before she continued. “No, that’s fine. I’m fine. I have the feeling she won’t be bothering me again anytime soon anyway.”

“Yeah. So, I’d like to find some way to make up for you missing half the shoot. Anything you can think of right now that you might want?” Adrien offered as he began to walk closer to Marinette. It wasn’t until he walked past her that she realized he was heading into school, just like she should be, but was also waiting for her. She quickly followed.

“Um, no? I mean that was a makeup for um...Friday, so…” she brought it up when she hadn't meant to. Adrien always fried her brain whenever he was close to her.

“Right, Friday. I’d almost… Well, not forgot but, with this weekend being crazy, it hadn’t come to mind much.”

So Marinette straddling him on her living room furniture hadn’t come to his mind. That sounded like a good thing, but why did she feel so bad about it?

“Well, I can understand it that would be something you’d want to forget. I mean, I want to too because I am just really sorry and embarrassed and stupid because I’m stupid and-”

“Stop right there!” He put his hands on both of her shoulders and made her look at him. The look on his face was not that of the happy-go-lucky teen model plastered on magazines and billboards. It was almost scary. “Don’t you ever do that again.”

“I won’t, I promise. No more games at my house, to more falling on you and-”

“Not that,” he cut her off again. “Stop putting yourself down, Marinette. You’re not stupid. You were never stupid. I’ve never thought you were stupid.”

Marinette couldn’t breathe, all the oxygen had been sucked out of the air around her and she couldn’t breathe. _I’ve never thought you were stupid._ Her face was completely red now, she just knew it.

__

__

“You’re smart and talented. Everyone likes you and wants to be your friend. You’re kind to everyone you know. You’ve even been kind to Chloe on occasion. I’m glad to have the pleasure of knowing someone like you.”

She was floored. _Everyone likes you...I’m glad to have the pleasure of knowing someone like you. _She couldn’t think, she tried to talk and couldn’t get her voice to make a single sound.__

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He opened the door to their classroom for her, bowing a little as he held it open for her to enter first. “Ladies first.”

Those words were like a cattle prod, shocking her to move into the classroom and stiffly walk to her seat to sit down. Adrien casually shut the door behind him, strolled to his seat, and settled down facing forward. Alya was trying to get some kind of reaction out of her friend, while Nino was whispering heatedly with Adrien. Marinette knew all of this, but her brain couldn’t process any of it. It wasn’t until halfway through homeroom that she finally stopped hugging her backpack and began taking notes.

Or that’s what it looked like she was doing. Instead, she was drawing tiny pictures of Adrien bowing, Adrien talking to her, saying the words she would never forget. “I’ve never thought you were stupid. Everyone likes you. I’m glad to have the pleasure of knowing someone like you.” Over and over she wrote them on the page. Alya leaned over at one point, read what she was writing and gaped at her friend, but Marinette ignored her. She was too happy to explain anything at that moment, happily laying on a bed of emerald green grass eyes with the warm sun of Adrien’s smile beaming down at her.

Throughout the school day, unbeknownst to Marinette, Adrien would sneak glances at her seated behind him, marveling at her pretty eyes and her smile.

The lunch bell rang suddenly, causing Marinette to blink in surprise. How had the day flown by so quickly? Was it really hours ago that Adrien had...Adrien! Her notes! School work! Suddenly glancing down at her notebook, all she saw were sketches of Adrien and those words again. Her face suddenly paled as all around her, students were getting up and heading towards the door, some even right past her down the middle of the aisle. Slamming the book shut before anyone could really see what was written, she shoved the notebook into her bag seconds before Alya grabbed her hand and dragged her from the classroom. Marinette was finally released after Alya had brought them down the stairs and under the nearest stairwell.

“Okay, tell me _everything! _What did he say to you to make you space out through the entire class?!” Alya gave her friend a little shake, hands on her shoulders.__

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“Only everything I ever wanted to hear!” Marinette gushed to her best friend, nearly melting on the spot. She recounted what exactly happened, slowly watching as Alya’s mouth gaped more and more as the morning’s events went on. She ended the tale on, “Then he opened the door and bowed to let me in first like a gentleman would. Oh, Alya, I’m so happy, I just don’t know what to do!”

“Um, confessing might be a good option since he seems to be flirting pretty heavily with you now!” Alya teased her friend.

“But I-I can’t! I mean I could be missing things or misinterpreting something or-”

“What are you missing now? Did you lose something?” Adrien said as he approached the two girls with Nino at his side, a polite smile on his face.

“Adrien! Hi-um-hello- wait I already said that, um I’m not missing anything!” Marinette flailed helplessly for several seconds before grinning broadly as her heart beat frantically.

“Oh, I thought I hear you say you were missing something. Was it about class? I wouldn’t mind tutoring you later this week if you want to. All this physics stuff I already know from private tutors, so if you’re having trouble…” He purposely left the question hanging in the air as Marinette mentally fumbled to try to form anything that could be a proper response other than screaming.

“Um, yeah, she would totally love it if you could. She was having trouble with today’s class and could use the help before the test this Friday,” Alya offered for her dumbstruck friend. She elbowed Marinette, startling her enough to force the girl to nod in agreement.

“Great, how about Thursday? I don’t have anything scheduled after Chinese, so around 7 okay for you? I can have my bodyguard pick you up if you don’t know the way,” Adrien, polite as ever, offered calmly either oblivious or purposely ignoring Marinette’s silence. She was silent because her brain had stopped working.

After what seemed like several years too long, but was really only a couple of seconds, Alya bumped her again and Marinette was snapped back to the question at hand. “Yes! Sure, I’d love it if you picked me up, I mean your bodyguard picked me up. In the car. To drive me to your ro-I mean your house!” _Stupid, stupid, stupid! You’re going to be alone, in his room! Why did you make me agree, Alya!_

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“O-okay, see you Thursday at 7 then. Well, and every day at school, and maybe elsewhere. I have to go home for lunch today, so no game time for me. See ya later Mari,” Adrien said pleasantly as he turned and waved. Were his cheeks a little pink as he turned away?

Nino strolled over to the two girls after waving bye to his friend. “Dude, what the heck happened between you two?” He directed the question at Marinette but Alya answered.

“Nino, you won’t believe it! Adrien basically confessed to Marinette!” Alya answered happily for her friend, explaining in broader strokes what Marinette had already told her.

“Woah, seems we missed a lot then, huh Alya? Guess we should have hung around this morning a bit longer.” Nino bumped Alya’s shoulder, causing her already tanned skin to darken along her cheeks.

“He called me ‘Mari’. I mean, what am I gonna do! Thursday, Adrien is going to tutor me, at his house! I’ve been to his house but never inside it! What am I gonna do, Alya?!” Marinette was freaking out. 

“Um, study and tell him you like him?” Alya offered.

“I can’t! He never actually said he liked me, but he said that people like me. He said he was happy to know me, well know someone _like _me. I mean, what if I’m-” she quieted suddenly, deflating, “-just a friend?”__

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“Girl, you don't talk that way to ‘just a friend’. Trust me,” Alya emphasized, making air quotes.

“Yeah, I can agree. My man can be nice to everyone, even people like Chloe, but the way Alya says he spoke to you, it’s more than just friendship.”

Mariette couldn’t take anymore, she had to sit down. Right on the floor. “This is too much, I have to cancel!” After using the entire lunch period to calm down her friend, Alya managed to convince Marinette to keep the tutor date and even promised to help her in what to say in the coming days. Still nervous, she hugged Alya, very grateful to have a friend like her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, Marinette is really in for it now huh? Adrien, you're Chat Noir is showing a little. But what's that? It gets better, he says. Fantastic! Look forward to Chapter 5, because we are heading to that tutoring session next! Away I go!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The study date is here folks, and it's a major blush fest.
> 
> As if there was any doubt. I love these blushy teens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this one took so long, I've been in a bit of a funk with minor health issues and such, but he's here now. Read the notes at the bottom for a poll I'm running. See you in the comments!

Marinette was so grateful to Alya, more so than ever before. If it wasn’t for their friendship, and her knowledge of Marinette in general, who knows where she’d be right now. Alya helped coach Marinette, preparing her for a lot of situations and conversations that could come up, so she figured she was as prepared as possible.

But she was wrong. Very wrong.

Per Alya’s insistence, Marinette chose to wear a dress today. She had chosen a sheath style pink dress, with a flared skirt that rested right above her knee. The small leather belt at her waist was a darker pink and lacquered to a smooth shine. The scoop neckline flattered her frame well, and considering her favorite shirt had a similar style, she was accustomed to it. Around the neckline was a wide collar, white in color with pink polka dots reminiscent of her alter ego and ended in three faux pearl buttons down the bust. Over top, she had added a cream colored, long-sleeved sweater, that she pulled up to her mid forearm. She finished the look off with a pair of black flats because Marinette and heels did not mix at all. 

She stood in front of the mirror for the 20th time in the last hour, making sure she was presentable and nothing was out of place. She felt self-conscious and insecure. Could she really go through with this? Could she really tell him her feelings after all this time? Alya said she should go for it and it was true that she could use some help in physics, also, but she really wanted help with was _their _chemistry. Why was she dressed like this to "study" again?!__

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“Marinette, you’re thinking too much. You’ll be fine, I believe in you!” Tikki encouraged her chosen like she had done many times that day.

“You’re right Tikki. I know you’re right but… I still can’t help wondering if I’m setting myself up to fail. I’ve never been very lucky with a lot of things in the past unless I was Ladybug, and I’m not. I’m just, me.” Marinette sat heavily back into her chair with a groan, burying her face in her folded arms on her desk.

“Sometimes you just need to make your own luck. You have your own type of lucky charm after all, in me and Ladybug. You were chosen for a reason, believe that Master Fu saw something in you that you can’t see, and use that to get you through! Besides, no one says you have to confess right now, but if it happens, then it happens. You and Ladybug are the same person, never forget that,” Tikki said as she nuzzled against Marinette’s cheek.

Marinette closed her eyes, reveling in the moment. “You’re right, as usual. Thanks, Tikki, I really do feel better now.” Looking up into the mirror, she realized it was true. Her Kwami, no, her _friend _, was right. She was Ladybug. She had the ability to be lucky, to be strong and charismatic. She could do this! Seconds later there was a honking downstairs, causing Marinette to fall out of her chair and onto the floor. Her mother called up that Adrien’s car was outside, so she grabbed her little bag that she hid Tikki in and her backpack and rushed down the stairs.__

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The driver of the silver car was hidden behind tinted windows until the massive man stepped out. He walked around the car and opened the back passenger side for her. Marinette wished her parents goodbye and walked up to the car. She had hidden some pastries her father had made especially for Adrien in her school bag, so she kept the bag close to her in case the bodyguard could smell them. 

She tried to be calm in the ride over, but only managed to make herself more nervous. She was nearly shaking when they finally arrived at the Agreste mansion. Adrien’s bodyguard once again got out and opened the door for her, which she thanked him for. He replied with a grunt that she took as gratitude. She slowly approached the door, walked up the stairs with shaking knees, but before she reached it, the door swung open seemingly on its own accord. She jumped back, but relaxed again at seeing Natalie standing behind the door.

“Welcome, Ms. Dupain-Cheng. Adrien is in his room waiting for you. I shall show you to it now if you are prepared,” the assistant offered. _I was until I walked in here _, Marinette thought as she nodded to the strict-looking woman. With a curt nod, the woman led Marinette up the stairs and to the right where, she assumed, Adrien was waiting for her. Natalie opened the door, peeked inside, calling, “Adrien, your friend is here.” After a sudden crash that made Marinette jump back, she heard Adrien’s muffled reply, but not exactly what he said. Natalie moved aside and opened the door wider. “You may go in now, he’s waiting.”__

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“Th-thank you, ma’am,” Marinette smiled weakly as she walked inside. 

“His bodyguard will be right outside if you need anything, so please let him know,” she informed and walked away without waiting for an answer. Marinette swallowed hard. Living here would have been nice, such a massive house, but being around such strict people certainly made it difficult. Marinette walked into the room, but she wasn’t taken aback by the sheer size of it, because she had been in here before as Ladybug.

“Um, Adrien?” she called out tentatively, eyes scanning the room.

“I’m here!” the voice came from the couch, drawing her attention to it as she walked over. When she got closer, she discovered what the crash earlier was. He had dropped a selection of drinks, one of them being a glass of ice water that he was now picking up. With a gasp she dropped everything she was carrying and began to help, all nervousness forgotten.

“Here, let me help you!” She began picking up the shards of glass and ice as she went, placing whatever she touched onto the tray he had nearby.

“Oh, you don’t have to, it’s my own fault for trying to rush,” Adrien tried to shoo her away, but she ignored him and kept going. 

“It’s okay, I don’t mind. I’m used to dropping things, so that means I’m also used to picking things up. It’s really no- ssss!” Marinette hissed and flinched as a shard of glass cut her finger, a drop of blood began dripping down her finger. She quickly popped the finger into her mouth and moved to grab her bag which she always had bandages in, but had forgotten it behind the couch.

“Ah! Are you alright? I have a first aid kit, I’ll go grab, wait here!” Adrien stood quickly and began rushing to his bathroom, but her voice stopped him.

“I’ll be fine, it’s just a small cut. I keep some bandages in my bag, maybe you could grab one?” He frantically looked around for it and, upon spotting it, he dove for it, unzipping it quickly. “Careful of the white box in there, they are for later. You know, I might not even need one, it’s already almost stopped bleeding. I guess I clot better because of all the pricks I get when sewing. You wouldn’t believe how many I got from knitting your sca- um…” she stopped herself. She was about to say “your scarf” but he didn’t know she had made it for his birthday last year. He thought his father gave it to him, and she has wanted it that way. So, she went with something else. “Your hat! Making your hat.”

“Here they are!” He held it up triumphantly, moving quickly back over to her, not noticing her almost slip up. He quickly tore the bandage open and placed it over her finger with ease. Suddenly, Marinette felt faint, not just from his hands gently holding hers, but from what he did next. Slowly, giving her time to pull away if she wanted, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the bandaged finger. She felt his warm breath on the back of her finger and barely breeze along her knuckles. His eyes were closed during the action, but as soon as his lips left her finger, they flew open to look up at her. “Feline better?” he asked, his mouth curling up on one side to form a cheeky smirk.

She almost whimpered at the pun, but as it was she could only nod in response for fear her voice might crack if she spoke. With a smile and nod, he finished cleaning up and brought the tray to the door, giving it to the guard to dispose of, leaving Marinette to drag herself up onto the couch and try to remember what Alya had said earlier today and the days prior. Her mind was a complete blank though and stayed that way until Adrien returned with a couple of fresh glasses. Great, more bleeding fingers. Actually, that might not be such a bad thing.

“So, did you bring your textbook?” Adrien asked, casually unaware of what his actions seconds ago were doing to heart.

“Huh,” she asked, then, “Oh! Yeah, I’ll get it.” She stood, walked carefully around the couch so she didn't fall, and retrieved it and the pastry box. “Oh, by the way, my dad wanted us to share these.” She set the box on the table in front of the couch, sliding it open to reveal several flavors or macarons. Adrien’s eyes widened at the sight, a broad grin forming on his face.

“Your dad is amazing! Not just amazing, pawsome!” Adrien cooed as he picked one up and took a big bite. Marinette watched him for a second or two before his words sank in. “Pawsome” and “feline” instead of awesome and feeling. He was making cat puns! Why, all of a sudden, was her crush sounding like Chat Noir?

“Y-yeah, he’s absolutely purrfect,” Marinette said with a giggle, wanting to instantly smack herself for falling into Chat’s habit too. Adrien choked for a second, and Marinette worried she might need to call for help before Adrien got a drink and took a deep breath. 

“G-good one Mari!” Adrien glanced away from her face down to the couch, seemed to notice something and glanced back up. “You’re wearing a dress?”

“Um, yeah. Is that a bad thing?” she questioned as she turned her face away from him, to hide her building shyness.

“No, it’s not! I like it, you look very pretty,” He said with a smile, his cheeks a light pink as he reached a hand behind his head to rub the back of his neck. 

He gave her a compliment, called her “pretty”. Did it suddenly get very warm in here too, because his face was very warm. “Th-th-thank y-y-you!” She’d closed her eyes as she responded. She couldn’t bear to see his reaction to her hotly flushed face. She didn’t see the cute smile that spread along his features, reaching all the way to his eyes, at her adorable blush.

“So, Physics, what are you having trouble with?” Calling her attention back to the reason why they were here, Marinette flung her eyes open to look at him. All traces of his previous shyness were gone as he reached across the table for his textbook. She scrambled for her backpack, trying to dig in the pastel pink bag she had brought with her to the couch. Once she had obtained the object she sought, she turned to the page he had directed her to and they began going over the nuances of Physics.

She asked questions and he answered them with as much an explanation he could, using terms she could more easily understand than what was written in the books themselves. She did understand much about physics but still struggled with some things, so him explaining them made things much easier to grasp. She watched his facial expressions as he spoke, enthusiastically about certain points he found interesting. Studied his lips sometimes as he said certain words, the way they pursed or spread. Usually several seconds after she’d realize she was staring at his lips too long, she’d blink quickly and smile before she returned her eyes to her book, but once he had asked her a question and was waiting for her answer. She'd stammered out some kind of response, causing him to chuckle at her wrong answer, and easily corrected her.

The sweets Marinette had brought were half gone after about an hour of studying. An hour of glorious time with Adrien, time she couldn’t be more happy for. She listened to him talk about another point in the course they were supposed to be learning in class when she absently reached out for another cookie and brushed against something warm. Her eyes flicked to her hand, which had frozen at the contact, only to see Adrien reaching for the same red macaron. It was the last one in the box of that color, and strawberry flavored, so she quickly pulled her hand away. His hand flew to the back of his neck, rubbing up and down with a shy smile on his face.

“Sorry, you can have it,” he offered. She began shaking her head vehemently side to side.

“No, you can have it. I’ll take another one,” she said as she very deliberately reached for another one, this one being green. He watched her carefully as she picked it up, brought it to her lips and bit into the soft cookie. She didn’t realize he was watching her until she glanced over, wondering why he had stopped talking about the textbooks before them, and saw him. His cheeks and the tips of his ears were pink from the blush that had spread across his face. It made her face warm in surprise. “What?”

She hadn’t realized she had even spoken until the word had come out, but he blinked and, seemingly coming to his senses again, responded. “N-nothing,” he stammered. He quickly reached for the red one and ate the thing whole. Marinette averted her eyes back to their text as she finished the mint-flavored sweet and studied the notes she’d written. She tried to figure out why he was acting so weird around her suddenly. He’d never blushed at anything she’d said or done before, it was only recently that…

Wait, did this have something to do with the photo shoot? He’d been acting weird around her since then, so maybe he was more upset than she thought. Maybe she should leave, it might make him calm down and it was getting late, after all, being past eight o'clock. She had school tomorrow and patrol tonight with Chat, so she needed to get home and finish the rest of her homework anyway. She suddenly closed the book, a little too loudly since the sound echoed around the room. Adrien was reaching for another cookie when he froze and looked up at her.

“I’m sorry, Adrien, but I think I should go,” Marinette told him as she packed her book away. She was clearly making him uncomfortable, and she didn’t want that. She wanted him to be his usual happy, kind, and sweet self. Forget her own feelings for him, she just wanted him to be happy and relaxed. Well, as happy as he could be. She swung her bag up onto her shoulder, felt a little shove from Tikki in her hiding spot in her purse as if she silently begged her chosen not to leave. _I can’t stay here when I make him feel uncomfortable. ___

____

____

Adrien stood suddenly, fear in his eyes at her words as he watched Marinette walk around the couch. After a nudge from his own pocket spurred him to action, he called, “Wait!”

Marinette froze and started to turn, to see Adrien rushing towards her. He stopped a step or two away from her. “You don’t have to leave, do you? If you have something to do, then that’s fine but… I don’t really have any other plans, not until much later at least,” he hinted.

“I don’t have anything either, well not until…” she trailed off. She couldn't tell him about patrol with Chat Noir. She decided to clamp down on her nerves and say what had been on her mind. “You seem… uncomfortable right now, I thought that if I left you’d feel better. I don't want you to feel weird around me.” She closed her eyes, her heartbeat loud in her ears.

She opened them when she heard his soft chuckle. Brought her blue eyes up to his face as his hands rested on her shoulders. “I’m sorry for acting a little weird. I don’t normally have friends over, so I’m just kinda new to this.” 

Her heart sunk then. “Friends” he’d said. All this was just a study session between friends, nothing more to him. She stepped back a bit, just out of his hands reach. She put on the faintest smile, but it was the best she could muster at the moment.

“Right, sorry. I guess I forgot. I forgot something too, I have to help my parents. You should have more ‘friends’ over, Nino would love your room. Sorry, I have to go.” She didn’t mean to emphasize how much the word hurt her, but she did and couldn't take it back now. She turned away from him, heading for his door, so she didn’t see the look of horror on his face at his own mistake. Just like he didn’t see the tears she was trying to fight, threatening to fall down her heated cheeks. He only knew she was leaving and didn’t want that. She only knew that he thought of her as a friend and nothing would change that. He reached out for her again, grabbing her shoulder as she walked away. The sudden weight he’d put into that hand to stop her momentum threw them both off balance, causing the pair to tip dangerously to one side and fall.

They landed on his bed, her under him in a very reminiscent way. Her dress had hiked up to her mid-thigh, showing more of her cream skin than it had when she was walking away. His hands were on either side of her head, having caught a few stray strands of her hair between his fingers, pulling a bit, but that wasn’t the worst part. A warmth between her bare legs forced her to realize that his knee, in an attempt at catching himself, was bent on the bed between her legs. 

Both Marinette and Adrien’s faces were red at their highly suggestive position, but neither felt they could move at this moment. Adrien’s eyes went to Marinette’s lips, slightly parted in surprise. Marinette saw Adrien absently open and close his mouth a couple of times, eyes distantly looking at her lips. Before she’d fully realized what she was doing, she reached up and placed a shaky hand on Adrien’s forearm, causing his eyes to flick to the movement, then to her eyes. He noticed with shock that they had softened and were watery with unshed tears but… was she smiling? 

The corners of Marinette’s lips were barely curved upward as so many of her dreams seemed to be coming true. Dreams about his admitting his feelings for her, or her feelings to him before they kissed. She felt her mouth about to say something, reveal her heart to him in this intimate moment, but she couldn't. He still had some worry and panic in his eyes, she could see it, but the words were still there as if her saying them aloud would make everything okay. Just when the words, of their own accord, came to the forefront of her mind... 

An explosion sounded from the city streets of Paris, close enough that the shockwave rocked the bed she was laying on.

Moment suddenly broken, Adrien pushed himself off his bed quickly and turned toward the windows, Marinette sitting up to look outside as well. Several more explosions could be seen, fire billowing up into the cloudy evening sky as a bright pink-colored blur jumped along the rooftops. An Akuma. Marinette had to go, and she had to go right now.

“I really need to go, I have to make sure my parents are safe!” Marinette blurted, standing quickly to gather her dropped items.

When she tilted her head up to look at Adrien, he was looking at her as if he meant to stop her. He knelt down, to hand her the textbook that had fallen out of the unzipped backpack, eyes serious. “I know you have to go. Just, be safe okay? I don’t want you hurt, Mari.” Marinette’s heart stopped, words on her lips formed and fell away. She had to go. She couldn’t drop a confession on him now when she had to leave.

“I-I…” They were there, the words, begging to be released. He looked like he almost expected her to say what she thought, but when she spoke again, it was through a sigh. “I will. You stay safe too.” A sad smile and a nod from Adrien was all she caught before rushing out of his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That cock-blocking cliffhanger, right? Sorrynotsorry for that, I had a blast writing it in.  
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter and tune in for Ch 6.  
> Now, for the poll. Ch 6 is supposed to be the last, based in the comic this story is inspired from and the ending which I won't spoil. I will only say it had a happy ending and I dunno about you but I always wonder what happens after "Happily ever after."  
> Well, I *might* have your answer. If you want me to continue this series "A Model Friend", leave a comment about wanting to continue the story. If you wanna wait and read Ch 6, you can do that too. Poll starts as soon as this chapter it up, so get your votes in!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Akuma is causing explosions and fires all around Paris, trying to find her target. Will Ladybug be able to escape her crush's room in time to save the day? Will Adrien finally admit that he's known who His Lady really in all along? Will Paris burn to the ground as the duo try to deal with their own emotions?
> 
> Well, get ready to find out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who didn't check out the comic first, good job! Once you finish this chapter you can go back and read the source material. For those of you who did, the ending will make sense.
> 
> As for what is next, well seems pretty much confirmed that I'm gonna be going off-the-rails and continuing this thing, so lots more fluff and blushing and lovesickness and stuff to come. As well as new akumatizations that have never been hinted at in the main series. This is an official AU now because of the ending. No, I have no idea where to place this in the current timeline so don't ask. Enjoy the chapter and read the notes at the end for more details.

The bodyguard, whom she rushed by in her haste to leave, watched her go. He was too worried about his protection duties to Adrien to also worry about how she might get home, even if she was also his responsibility. Marinette rushed out the door, down the stairs and through the gate. She looked up into the sky, the fire was far enough away to not be a danger to the house but close enough for her to get to easily as she scanned for a place hidden enough to transform. She heard a whoop of exhilaration as Chat Noir bounded into action above her, heading towards the chaos.

“Chat can hold the Akuma off while I transform,” she said to Tikki as she rushed to an alleyway. Once she was safely hidden, she cried out, “Tikki, transform me!” The magic took hold, quickly making normal Marinette into Miraculous Ladybug. Yo-yo in hand, she swung her way towards the fight surely already well underway, never taking her eye off the blur of pink and the glowing yellow and red of the fires the Akuma was causing.

As she approached, she heard more than saw Chat taunting the Akuma after him instead of whatever civilian she was aiming at. As she swung into his path, she smiled as his eyes lit up. She was happy to see him happy, glad that she made this boy happy and not uncomfortable. 

“Evening Chat, what are we up against this time?” she asked the leather-clad hero.

“Oh, seems the usual. The nice woman seems to be upset at her boss for something, and she’s taking out her anger on Paris,” he said as he shrugged.

“Any idea what her item is?”

“My best guess? The piece of paper in her jacket pocket,” he motioned towards the Akuma as she stood on a roof nearby, looking for the heroes. Ladybug looked at the bright pink mass of hair on the Akuma’s head, matching pink business suit right down to her pink, low heeled shoes.

With a roar of anger, she screamed to no one in particular, “I won’t accept this, you hear me, Damian! You can’t put me next to that noisy boiler room and expect me to ‘just deal with it!’ You tell me to ‘lighten up’, well I’ll light you up for this!” When she’d finished her rant, she hurled balls of flaming slag towards a business building, landing on the roof and catching fire.

“She’s gonna really hurt someone if this keeps up! All of Paris will burn down, got a plan Mar-I mean My Lady?” Chat looked at Ladybug, a nervous giggle on his lips. She didn’t notice his slip, too focused on their target.

“Yeah, but it’s not gonna be fun. We have to get her away from the city and to the Seine where her fire won’t catch.” Marinette reached down and began swinging her yo-yo in a circle, faster and faster until she created a kind of large, round shield. “Follow my lead, Kitty!”

“Anywhere, My Lady,” Chat practically purred. With a roll of her eyes, she ran up to the akumatized victim, blocking her most recent slag ball. “Hey there, I don't feel like moving anytime soon, so maybe you can stop burning down Paris?”

“Ladybug, hand me your Miraculous and maybe I’ll leave your house for last!” the Akuma shouted, gathered a larger slag ball, preparing to hurl it at the heroine. She didn’t think her yo-yo could block all of the flaming sludge, and she flinched away from the impact as the angered woman threw. But instead of feeling flaming hot slush, she felt a weight knock her down to the rooftop. Chat was there, spinning his staff to block the blow from hitting her.

“Now, now, no reason to be all fired up. I think it’s time you cooled off a bit!” He teased as he charged the woman again, swinging his staff to distract the Akuma.

“No! You don’t understand, I’m Firestarter, and if my boss wants to stick me in the hottest room in the entire building, then it’s time I light a fire under him to think again!” Firestarter shouted, blocking many of Chat’s blows before one finally landed and causing her to fly across several houses. He was trying to get her closer to the river, so he chased her back further and further.

Ladybug, not one to be left out of the fight, ran after the fighting pair, the beginnings of an idea forming in her head. Once she was parallel to the combat, she ran a bit past them to position herself behind Firestarter. Waiting for a good moment, she lashed out with her yo-yo, wrapping the string around the villain. Chat, having caught an idea of what Ladybug was doing, lashed out with his staff to catch the woman’s feet. With a smile that her partner was on her wavelength, she pulled with all her might, sending Firestarter flying right into the Seine.

“Well, I’ve got to admit, it's nice seeing you fling someone else across Paris instead of me all the time,” Chat Noir purred inches from her ear, startling her suddenly. His green eyes watched her, downright seductively if she was truthful, and she flinched away suddenly needing distance.

“Yeah, right. Let’s go de-evilize her and get this over with, I’ve had a rough enough day,” Ladybug took off running to swing after the waterlogged villain.

“Rough day? I’m sorry, My Lady, wanna talk about it after this?” He sounded genuinely concerned, and she nearly answered him as they approached the river, but another explosion stopped her as water splashed everywhere, covering the heroes. Chat, looking like a real soaked cat, said, “Well, guess I did need a bath today. I just won’t need another later!”

“I think you might need some soap though, Kitty. Otherwise, you’ll be all sweaty from fighting bad guys! And girls don’t like sweaty cats,” Ladybug teased as they looked around for Firestarter, who had vanished.

“Does that mean you like me right now? I’m nice and clean!” he purred at her, wagging his eyebrows up and down.

“Ugh, can we find the Akuma please?” Ladybug groaned.

“Aww, but I wanted to you tell me how much you like me,” Chat said as he ran a clawed hand over his wet hair, swiping some of it out of his face. Ladybug turned to reply to his snarky comment when suddenly, her response dried on her lips. His hair, though wet, looked like something she’d seen in a magazine last week. His eyes, while completely green were the same shade as the model in that magazine ad. It had been a beach add, with Adrien in a loose, white shirt, half unbuttoned and blowing in a breeze. He also had on long swim trunks, and his hair had been wet. Chat Noir’s wet hair, she realized with shock, looked almost exactly like Adrien’s hair in the add. 

“Adr-” she covered her mouth, stopping herself from speaking. Chat looked at her then, into her eyes. His mouth was open slightly, just staring at her.

“My Lady?” He questioned, trying to sound calmer than he felt. She couldn’t respond as so many things seemed to fall into place. The puns lately, his sudden flirts towards her, inviting her over to study, kissing her finger when she’d cut it, not stopping her when she said she had to leave a second time. 

“Are you-” he started to question as a loud explosion sounded again, drawing their eyes to the noise. “Nevermind,” he said quickly, “we have to defeat the Akuma.”

“R-right. Okay, it’s time for a little luck.” Grabbing her yo-yo, she flung it up in the air and shouted, “Lucky Charm!”

Magic circled the yo-yo, as it formed an object and then it fell, only to land in her hands. It was a burlap sack.

“You gonna gather some sand to put all the fires out?” Chat questioned as he looked from the bag to her. She scanned around her, her eyes landing on the bag, Chat’s belt, and finally on the distant Akuma.

“Not all, just one,” smiling, she continued, “I’ll need your belt Chat Noir and a distraction.”

With a smile, and with a bow, he answered, “Of course. Anything for you, My Lady!”

As they ran up to Firestarter, Chat headed for the front of her while Ladybug started to sneak up behind her. Chat taunted and teased Firestarter with puns and other distraction tactics he’d picked up over the time he’d become a superhero, and when he got the signal from Ladybug, the plan they had made came to fruition.

“Cataclysm!” Chat touched his glowing, black clawed hand to the roof they stood on, causing cracks to form and the surface to give way, trapping Firestarter’s foot into the hole he created. As she struggled to free herself, Ladybug covered her puffy pink hair and most of her face with the sack. The woman went to get the sack off, and Ladybug used Chat’s belt to pin her arms to her sides. While Chat, who had rushed over to help, held the belt to keep the woman still, Ladybug grabbed the slip of paper and tore it in half, releasing the purple butterfly.

“No more evil-doing for you little Akuma,” Ladybug said as she opened the compact of her yo-yo, the inside glowing with a purifying light. “Time to de-evilize!” She swung out with the yo-yo, catching the butterfly easily. “Gotcha! Bye, bye, little butterfly,” she said sweetly as she waved goodbye to the now purified, white insect.

“Huh, what? Why is there a sack on my head? Help!” The now de-evilized victim began to panic. Chat pulled the sack of the woman’s head, handing it to Ladybug.

“I think it’s time to put these fires out, My Lady,” he smiled as he helped the woman to her feet.

“You’re right, Chat. Miraculous Ladybug!” she cried out, throwing the item she created into the air as magic set to work around the city. Fires were put out, buildings repaired, and the air cleared of smoke and when the magic had run out, the stars twinkled quietly above the sleeping city of Paris. Ladybug leaned down to the scared and confused woman. “Hey, who is Damian?”

“D-Damian? He’s my boss, he just put me in a new office in the hottest room in the building. He said he did it because of the others so he couldn’t say he was playing favorites, but I-” she started to explain, but started crying.

“It’s okay, maybe if you talk to him, he’ll relocate you,” Ladybug offered.

“No! I can’t, I lov-” she covered her mouth, stopping the word from leaving her mouth. But Ladybug understood just fine.

“You care very much for your boss, right?” The woman nodded in response. “I understand,” her eyes flicked to Chat before returning to the woman, “trust me. Just stop being afraid and tell him how you feel. I promise to be brave if you do.”

“You have someone you…” she trailed off as Ladybug nodded. “O-okay. I’ll be brave Ladybug. Thank you.” The heroes helped the woman down to the street near where she lived, promising to speak to her boss tomorrow.

“So, are you finally gonna admit your feelings for me, My Lady?” Chat cooed, stopping Ladybug’s hand from reaching for her yo-yo.

“Hmmm, I wonder.” she winked behind her towards Chat, grabbing her yo-yo to swing it around, about to wrap it around a chimney she was eyeing to get home when a quiet sound behind her stopped her in her tracks.

“Marinette, wait.”

Her yo-yo stopped swinging, dropping helplessly to the ground beside her with a clatter. His voice was barely louder than a whisper, but she caught it. Chat had called her Marinette, not Ladybug or “My Lady”, but her real name. Panic rising into her eyes, she slowly turned toward Chat Noir as he stood in the middle of the street, not having moved from where she had left him a few steps away.

“What did you-”

“I know who you are. I saw you transform.” 

Panic even greater than before settled in the pit of her stomach, making her feel ill. Slowly she reached down, picking her yo-yo from the ground, and began swinging it again.

“Y-you’ve got me wrong, I don’t know any Marinet-”

“Mari, please!” Chat called, taking a step toward her as she flung her yo-yo out to catch a chimney. As the yo-yo wrapped around the stack, she ignored him and brought herself up to the rooftop. She heard Chat vaulting up towards her, and she ran. Ran as fast as her enhanced self could carry her before she fell into an alleyway hidden between two buildings so close together that she missed the gap. Scared, she looked for any place to hide from Chat Noir, but all too quickly he was in the alley with her. “Marinette, please. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to see you it just happened.”

“You called me Mari,” she voiced.

“Yeah, I did. I’m so sorry Mari, I-”

“No one calls me Mari expect…” Puzzle pieces she’d almost had together before using her lucky charm began to come together once again. “Adrien?”

Closing his eyes, he detransformed, a little black Kwami flying out of his ring, the silver ring Adrien always wore, she now realized. The object of her affection had been right by her side all along, cheerily flirting and teasing her superhero alter ego.

“Hello again, My Lady,” Adrien smiled, sheepishly. Tears welled up in his eyes as Marinette watched him break down. “This has all gone wrong from the start, and for that, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry if I made you sad, made you cry after the photo shoot. I fell right into Lila’s trap and did something stupid, and I’ll regret hurting you for the rest of my days. I just hope you can find it within yourself to forgive me, really and truly. And I’m sorry I didn’t know who you were from the beginning. I’m just so stupid, all the signs were there. I’ve put one side of you up on a pedestal that no one else can touch, and it took me a while to really understand, but I can finally, truthfully say…”

He inhaled deeply, catching his breath then swallowed hard, and Marinette’s Miraculous beeped it’s final warning.

“Say that I love you, both of you. I love you, Marinette.” Adrien tilted his head down, tears rolling off his face and down to the dirty pavement at his feet. He held himself very still, prepared for whatever his Princess had in store for him. He thought he’d be smacked, or at the very least yelled at. He didn’t expect her to close the gap between them, her suit fading away as Tikki floated near Plagg. They watched their chosen, mere inches from each other now, as Marinette brought her hands up to Adrien’s tear stained cheeks, pulling his face up to look into her eyes.

They were soft and filled with affection for the young model, but they also bubbled over with all her unshed tears as she opened her mouth to answer him. “I forgive you.” She tilted forward, up on her tiptoes to rest her forehead against his, her thumb moved to wipe some tears from his cheeks and she felt the skin beneath her fingertips warm. “I don’t want you to be sad either, blue tears don’t match your green eyes.”

Neither Marinette nor Adrien could tell who moved first. Whether it was his arm around her back or if she’d stepped into the embrace, but the distance closed and their lips met. There was no further need for words at that moment, their lips had done enough talking, now it was just about feeling. Plagg and Tikki watched over their masters as a gentle rain began to fall around them, but none of the four took notice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, you made it! Grats and I hope you enjoyed the final chapter of this part of A Model Friend. I will have to think of a new name for part 2 since Adrien, while still a model, is no longer a "model friend" (Did you get that reference in the story? that's why I called it what I did.) He will not be Marinette's love interest! YAY!
> 
> So, that being said I'm gonna need some time to work things out about where I am going because I have a vague idea involving Hawkmoth trying to figure out who is behind the masks (and maybe discovering, but who knows) plus the love square relationship and how they have to be lovey-dovey as Adrienette and LadyNoir, but not MariChat and Ladyrien. More for fear of being caught by Alya and reporting that "so-and-so is sooo cheating on you, and I got proof!" So, yeah, some stuff to figure out. Also might go 18+ because, well I am over 18 plus and I love smut, so be ready if I take that route. It won't be for a while and after I age them up because ewww, kids!
> 
> So yeah, Glad you made it to the end, don't hate me too bad for leaving it here since the comic ended here too and I will be making a new part as soon as I figure out where to start. See you in the next one!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and feel free to leave comments below. I'll do my best to answer all of them and, since I am writing this all in one go, I'll be splitting the massive thing into smaller chapters and trying to release them daily (when possible). 
> 
> Thanks again and see you in the next chapter!


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